Letters To The Editor

August 31, 2006

Common Sense

Lacking In Trial

Were I a juror having just been virtually incarcerated by the state of Connecticut to sit in judgment of Gregory Senick for the past three months, I think my first order of business would be to ask the judge whether there's any way that we could punish the state.

Sure, former state police Maj. Gregory Senick may have taken advantage of the laxness of the state with regard to his sweetheart housing arrangement. And, sure, that may have cost the taxpayers of Connecticut some thousands of dollars. And I don't mean to condone his abuse, but where's the common sense or justice of spending what has to be a minimum of several hundred thousand dollars (with Senick doubtless paying more than that for his defense) to chase this guy?

Spending that money and taking a quarter of a year from the lives of these jurors, their families and their employers is the crime here. It is not hard to have predicted that this would be a long trial, but it is inconceivable that someone made a rational decision that this three-month ordeal was the best use of the resources of the state and a reasonable use of juror time.

Writing is a way to bring a message to the people. Unfortunately, what could have been a good message (the right to protest the Iraq war) got lost in the writer's obvious abuse of her thesaurus: ``hoary, crepuscular, pill-besotted ...''

To make matters worse, she wasted valuable newspaper space, mockingly expounding on trying to find a link between communism and fornication.

The message of peace in a time of war is an important one, quite possibly the most important. People need words they can understand and relate to; not pretentious vocabulary that only serves to drive the average reader away from the most important problems facing our world today.

Mary J. Geoghegan

Bloomfield

Looking To Bench `Team Player'

I have one observation regarding Joe Lieberman's use of the term ``Team Connecticut'' to portray his philosophy [Commentary, Aug. 27, ``What Voters Want From Their Senator; A Team Player''].

This is the same man who was willing to allow former Gov. John Rowland, rather than the citizens of Connecticut, to pick a U.S. senator from the state had Lieberman been elected vice president.

This is not in accordance with my concept of ``Team Connecticut.''

Don Goldman

Glastonbury

Joe Lieberman's Commentary article was stunningly ironic. Washington is broken? He is fed up with partisanship?

Before he lost the Democratic primary, Lieberman extolled the virtue of his 18 years inside the Beltway and claimed he was the true Democrat, having voted with Senate Democrats most of the time (except, of course, for supporting the Bush-Cheney war policy in Iraq).

Now that the party he once represented as a vice presidential candidate has resoundingly chosen a different standard bearer, Lieberman's handlers are trying to recast him as a reformist outsider and Ned Lamont as an old-fashioned, polarizing politician.

It won't work. Remember who the career politician is here.

David Lee

West Hartford

Poverty As We Know It

In response to the Aug. 25 editorial ``Welfare As We Knew It'':

When are we as a society going to take responsibility for the poverty that plagues this country and the world? Hoping that an improved economy or a helping hand will address this social dilemma is becoming the real problem. It's time to fix the problem, not the symptoms.

An inflexible economic system that rewards the wealthy at the expense of the working poor will eventually lead to anarchy. Raising the minimum wage and lowering usurious interest rates would be a fundamental start. Holding governments accountable to protect the people they serve probably needs to happen first.

William J. O'Brien

West Hartford

A Crackdown On

Drunken Drivers

Another holiday is around the corner: Labor Day. And that means family barbecues, swimming, picnics, fun -- and unfortunately, the potential for more tragic deaths due to drunken driving.

The statistics are startling. In the United States, on average, one person dies every 31 minutes in an alcohol-related crash. In Connecticut, 120 people died because of drunken driving in 2005. And because of complacency, the problem is not getting better.

Fortunately, Mothers Against Drunk Driving Connecticut is partnering with law enforcement officials this Labor Day to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by drunken driving, the nation's most frequently committed violent crime. Local police are taking part in a national crackdown: ``Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest,'' sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in partnership with MADD.